Chapter 284 Time Magic
Logan and the others faced the strange Chronosphere.
"──You old fool!! It's time to put you in your place!!"
Noah shouted in anger, and the battle began.
"Io!!"
"I know!!"
In that moment, before closing the distance, Logan and Io each used their Battle Techniques and magic.
My unique battle technique──[Black God's Armor]
Logan held "Black Moon" in his hand. He channeled his aura into the sword, turning it into a heavy attribute, and then brought it back to himself.
The returning aura spread out, wrapping Logan in a full-body armor.
The aura, which had been glowing pale blue, was now being dyed black.
At the same time, Io also used magic with the "Black Moon Staff" in his right hand. Thanks to the heavy attribute added to the magical energy, its performance was greatly enhanced.
Origin Magic──[Divine Robe: Black Feather Cloak]
What appeared was a pitch-black cloak.
This was a new support magic added to the [Divine Robe] with heavy attribute specialization.
Each Battle Technique and magic was activated in a short time. However, the Chronosphere was not going to just sit back and wait.
"I'll play with you."
He calmly announced and activated his magic.
Pseudo Time Magic──[Time Accel]
At first glance, it seemed like a magic that had no variation. The facing Lucia and the others had no idea what kind of magic had been activated.
But in the next moment, the figure of Chronosphere suddenly disappeared from Lucia and the others' sight.
"""──!?"""
"What!?"
In an instant, Chronosphere appeared right in front of Logan.
With a stance that seemed to step deep into the ground, Chronosphere launched a powerful roundhouse kick at Logan.
"Shh──!!"
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Logan couldn't react in time. He was kicked away with a force that far exceeded that of an old man, flying through the air like a cannonball.
After bringing his leg down, Chronosphere turned to Lucia and the others and said,
"You can't fight seriously here. Let's move to another location."
He pointed to where Logan had been blown far away.
Chronosphere didn't wait for Lucia and the others to respond and disappeared from their sight once again.
No one was able to follow his movement with their eyes.
"──It's not teleportation!?"
Io shouted, panic evident in his voice. His gaze was directed at the distant Logan because that was where Chronosphere had moved.
"Be careful! It's probably time magic!"
Lucia answered Io's question.
While it seemed like moving in an instant was the same as [Space Transfer], when it came to short-distance movement, it was faster and harder to detect than teleportation.
In the case of teleportation magic, it is necessary to project magical energy to the destination like a precursor discharge of lightning. Therefore, there is a very short time lag before activation, and if someone has magical energy sense, they can detect the projected magical energy and figure out the destination.
However, they couldn't react at all to the earlier movement of the Chronosphere. This was because no magical energy was projected.
"Time magic!? Is there a way to deal with it!?"
"Strictly speaking, it only looks like that; it's Space magic! We can counter it with heavy attribute magic and Space magic!"
Lucia quickly answered Noah's question, and they moved away from the clan members fighting the fake goddesses to where Logan had been blown far away.
The battle had already begun there.
And it was a one-sided situation.
"Ugh!? Gah!! Gah!?"
"You're slow, Logan!!"
With a loud bang, Logan swung his sword to counter the Chronosphere, which was launching attacks with incredible power using punches and kicks. His movements were impressive and incredibly fast.
However, even so, he couldn't match the Chronosphere.
The sharp sword strikes seemed like they could cut through the air, but the Chronosphere effortlessly dodged them with even greater speed, suddenly appearing in Logan's blind spot to attack.
But Logan wasn't just taking hits without defending himself.
The punches and kicks without any aura have incredible power, but by continuously adding heavy attribute aura to the [Black God's Armor], they are managing to reduce the power and negate the knockback.
So far, it's been successful──but──
(Too fast to move!!)
Logan was confident he could handle movement through teleportation magic. However, the movement of the Chronosphere was simply extremely fast, making it difficult to respond.
Then──
"Noah! [Space Control]! Chloe! [Space Suppression]!"
"Got it!"
"Y-yes!!"
Lucia, Noah, and Chloe, who arrived through teleportation, activated [Space Control] and [Space Suppression] respectively.
"Oh...? You noticed. Lucia is indeed troublesome."
The magical energy emitted created a wide area centered around the Chronosphere. A struggle for control within the magical space occurred, and although the [Time Accel] activated by the Chronosphere wasn't completely stopped, it was weakened.
(──Now!!)
Logan didn't miss the moment when the movement slowed down.
Logan's left hand grabbed the Chronosphere's right arm.
Right after sealing his movement, he sharply thrust his right hand's "Black Moon" forward!!
My unique sword technique──[Dragon Slash]
Just a sword made of highly condensed aura, its tip──
"Too bad. It can't cut."
But it stopped right in front of the Chronosphere.
Space magic──[Dimensional Cut Wall]
With a crack, the barrier shattered, but it easily absorbed Logan's strike.
At the same time, Chronosphere forcefully pulled Logan's left hand.
"Whoa!?"
"Hmph!!"
Logan thrust his fist towards Chronosphere's torso, putting his weight into the punch.
Space magic──[Space Distortion Fist]
The fist, wrapped in distorted air, collided with Logan. In an instant, the warped space returned to normal, creating an incredible shockwave.
"Whoa────!!?"
Logan felt a shock so strong it felt like his stomach had exploded, and he was sent flying.
He crashed to the ground, bouncing a few times before finally landing on his feet, splashing water from the lake as he tried to stop his momentum.
He endured.
However, Logan instinctively stopped moving and placed a hand on his stomach.
(Ugh...!! If it weren't for my Supernatural Ability, I would have died just now...)
Thanks to the transplant of "Evil God Cells," Logan gained the Supernatural Ability [Hero's Body (Super Regeneration)].
While active, it constantly heals him at high speed. Without it, he would have died from internal injuries and a broken spine.
Even with the [Black God's Armor] activated, the damage from that attack sent chills down his spine.
(If anyone else took that hit, they wouldn't survive...!!)
While he was sure of that, Logan began to feel that something was "off" about the last attack.
He can't point out exactly what it is or put it into words. But Logan's instincts as a warrior sensed something strange and unsettling.
On the other hand──
"What do you plan to do, Ail, when you can't even attack?"
Right after Logan was pushed away, 2 shadows closed in on the Chronosphere, trying to jump from behind.
One was Io. The other was Ail.
Chronosphere said this with a look of disbelief and activated magic without even looking at the two.
Pseudo-time magic──[Time Slow]
""──!?""
In that moment, the bodies of the two in the air seemed to stop as if time had frozen.
No──to be precise, they weren't really stopped. If you looked closely, they were moving very slowly. But from the outside, it looked almost like they were completely still.
However──Io's stop was only for an instant.
"Nuoooooohhh!!"
As the [Black Feather Robe] swirled around Io, his body began to move.
"Hmm. As expected, you resisted. But──."
"!?"
Even if it was just for a moment, the stop was fatal.
In front of Io, who had broken free from the restraints, Chronosphere moved in an instant and readied a fist.
A distortion of Space covered that fist.
"This is the end."
Feeling certain of his death, Io couldn't defend or dodge in time against the thrusting fist.
But──Chronosphere's fist pierced through empty air.
"──!? Lady Lucia, you saved me...!!"
"Mm!"
By quickly accepting Lucia's activated [Space Transfer], Io managed to escape danger.
At the same time, Noah strongly activated [Space Control] towards Ail, canceling the effects of [Time Slow].
Just then, Logan, who had been blown away, came rushing back at high speed.
"Haaaaaa!!!"
With incredible momentum, he slammed his sword wrapped in [Dragon Slash] towards the Chronosphere.
Chronosphere responded by deploying [Dimensional Cut Wall] to block it.
"Can't you see it's useless?"
"Geeeee!!!"
Without taking a breath, Logan unleashed a series of sword strikes. In response, Chronosphere either blocked with barriers or accelerated its movements to dodge.
Both of their movements were extremely fast, leaving no openings for others to assist with attacks.
Except for one person.
"────"
Io quietly intervened in the clash between Logan and Chronosphere.
He circled around to Chronosphere's back and thrust out his fist, stained black.
──[Black Heavy Fist]
"You're aware, aren't you?"
Chronosphere deployed a barrier to defend against the fist thrust from behind.
Cracks appeared from the impact of the heavy punch, but it couldn't break the barrier in one hit. However, Io had anticipated that much.
Without missing a beat, he used the momentum of his retracted fist to thrust out the "Black Moon Staff" held in his left hand.
Origin Magic──[Solid Blade]
The pitch-black magic blade pierced through Chronosphere's barrier. However──,
"Tch!!"
Io clicked his tongue in frustration.
Beyond the shattered layered barrier, another layered barrier stopped Io's strike.
Moreover, Chronosphere still had his back turned to Io, responding to Logan's fierce attacks.
(Is the difference in strength that big...? No, but it's not like my attacks are completely ineffective. I'll keep attacking in sync with Logan!!)
Io continued to attack while maneuvering to always position herself around Chronosphere.
Even if the layered barrier blocked her, forcing the barrier to deploy should reduce the number of attacks it could make.
Meanwhile, Lucia and the others, who were surrounding the two in battle from a distance──
"We'll focus all our efforts on weakening Chronosphere with counter magic!!"
"Got it!"
"Y-yes, understood!!"
Lucia, Noah, and Chloe each activated [Space Control] and [Space Suppression] around the moving Chronosphere, dedicating themselves to disrupting its magic.
They avoided using attack magic since it might hit their allies. Additionally──
(Pretty soon, we might not be able to use teleportation around here...!!)
The effects of the counter magic also impacted Lucia and the others.
Just like how Lucia had previously protected Io from Chronosphere's attack with teleportation, she might not be able to do that anymore due to the immense magical energy.
Their counter magic was interfering with each other's Space magic. This interference grew stronger over time.
Therefore, Lucia and the others could only pour all their energy into weakening Chronosphere.
It was because they were weakening Chronosphere's pseudo-time magic that Logan and the others could somehow keep up in the fight.
"I'm completely a burden...!!"
While watching Logan and the others fight, Ail mutters.
If it weren't for the influence of [Testament (Contract before God)], he could attack, but even if he could, he would still be too weak to help Logan and the others.
Feeling bitter about this, Ail doesn't think about leaving the battlefield. Instead, he watches Logan's fight with serious eyes, waiting for a chance that might not even come.
(Even if I can't attack, I can at least be a meat shield. And... if there's an opening, I should be able to jump on Chronosphere and stop his movement for a moment...!!)
Ail no longer thinks about surviving this battle.
He has resolved to use his own life to create even a brief opening for Chronosphere. That is how he has decided to use his life──.
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